Author's Notes: I don't think I've yet mentioned this, but when any of the Jedi or what-not are communicating telepathically, the words they converse with will be in forward slashes; so, if Qui-Gon wanted to tell Dooku that he was hungry telepathically, it'd look like so:
/I'm hungry, Master/
Simple enough, right? ^_^
Seung Mina: I'm glad you're enjoying it! I've aimed to make Qui-Gon a very liable and excitable young man, and the story overall, even though it will have its dark moments, is going to be fairly light-hearted. Keep reading!
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A Test of Faith
Chapter 7
The Ground whizzed passed beneath their dangling feet as the trio of Jedi zoomed over the desert-like region of Colla IV on their swoop bikes, the wind blustering through the loose fibres of their robes. They wore protective goggles over their eyes to shield their sight from the gritty sand that constantly blew into them, mingled with the stuffy air. They were all concentrating on the journey ahead, travelling on toward Drykos, the capital city of the planet.
Jinn clasped Jiao around her waist, sat behind her on her speeder bike, whilst his Master rode solo, on ahead. Dooku was a reckless Jedi, and (Jinn had found out once in a swoop simulation lesson, which he would rather not recall…) a reckless pilot. Therefore, Qui had opted to ride with Jiao rather than risk further embarrassment by riding with his mentor.
In the distance, a few mountain peaks finally gave life to the predominantly flat horizon, but were still as yet quite far away, and much further beyond where Drykos should be situated if Allyaah's map reading skills were anything to go by.
"How much further?" Dooku called to Allyaah, dropping back to her side on his bike, his long, black hair whipping wildly behind him.
"Just stick with me!" Allyaah replied; Jinn meanwhile gave his Master a mischievous wave, smirking smugly, "Tailgate, master, tailgate!" he taunted.
Serenn gave his Padawan the 'very funny' facial gesture, before abruptly shooting back behind them, following closely in their wake.
"Put him in his place!" Jinn laughed as he turned back to Allyaah.
She smiled, "He'll get his own back, Qui – you know him better than that."
The sun splashed gloriously across the land as the two speeders sped across the open, desolate plains, forlorn specks in the wide expanse of nothingness that seemed to embody Colla IV; lonely rocks in the ground could or could not be individual, camouflaged Colicoids, waiting to strike at any unwanted intruders, or secretively spying on the rare passer-by.
One of these 'lonely rocks' infact was doing just the latter; as the two swoops tore passed, the rock rose its head from the ground, revealing itself to be one of many concealed Colicoids on the planet's surface. It fixed its beady eyes on the disappearing dots that were the three Jedi, swiftly riding further into Colla IV's void of a landscape, and reported the sighting promptly via commlink to its superiors – this world, despite its appearance, was at the tip of technological advancement, with all of the planet's resident nests being made up of droid manufacturers, a practise hidden in the lowest abysses of the subterranean structures.
["They're on their way…"]
* * * *
["Garrison point 5 has seen the newcomers…"]
["All three?"]
["…Yes…they're riding swoops."]
["Excellent…"]
* * * *
Serenn kept his eyes on Allyaah ahead, the scenery becoming tediously monotonous, and the hum of his speeder bike's engine ringing frustratingly in his ears. That was until, suddenly, his ears felt liable to pop, seeming as though they were filling with water. He frowned, cringing as this pressurising feeling spread to his mind, and made his skull feel as though it were closing in…
Blinking hard, he groaned in pain and aggravation, trying to remain conscious, let alone focused.
'Serenn…'
He swallowed hard, his throat dry; "What?" he growled in a vain response to the empty voice, echoing within his subconscious.
'Blood is the key'
"Blood?"
'Life is the blood. Blood is the key'
"I don't understand…"
'Don't let it be taken away from you…'
"What are you talking about?"
Allyaah felt the Force prod at her temple suddenly; /Serenn/ it uttered to her; something was wrong with her friend.
Responding to this enigmatic warning, she turned about to look at the Jedi Master, slowing her swoop a little; she could feel the weight on his mind, could sense something amiss…
/Serenn?/
Dooku's eyes widened as Allyaah's voice broke through the suffocating bubble that had enveloped his mind; /Allyaah…?/ he sighed.
/Are you all right?/ she continued.
/I'm fine…carry on/ he insisted.
/Are you sure?/
/Yes. Keep going/
Allyaah sighed, turning back to concentrate on her driving, and taking a firmer grip on the handlebars of her swoop.
Jinn bit his lip gently, having not been completely oblivious to Jiao's silent conversation with his tutor; "Is Master Dooku okay?" he queried softly.
Allyaah nodded, "I think so…he's just under a bit of pressure, that's all."
Qui-Gon nodded steadily, giving his Master a quick glance back over his shoulder, uncertain about what he was going through at the moment; it couldn't be anything good, whatever it was.
It was but several more minutes before, the sun flagging into dusk, Allyaah drew her swoop to a halt by a jutting rock face that reached about nine feet high into the air, a lone monolith in the middle of the desolate landscape. Dooku drew up besides her, leaning forward onto his bike's handlebars as he came to a halt, exhaling profoundly and pulling his goggles from off of his eyes.
Jiao pulled off her own goggles and looked across to the Jedi Master, trying to read his expression, whilst Jinn decided not to give Dooku any time, and, in his typically unsubtle manner, asked bluntly, "Master, what's wrong with you?" drawing his goggles down to hang about his neck.
Serenn looked up to his Padawan silently; both Jinn and Jiao were now looking at him.
"I'm fine," he said after a pause, looking between the two quickly, "Don't fuss…"
Qui-Gon rolled his eyes, only to see Allyaah do the same – it was clear that Dooku was becoming a predictable character.
"And Yoda's seven-foot-five – you don't half lie Serenn!" Allyaah seriously retorted, getting up off the swoop and kicking its stand out, before turning and giving Dooku a sceptical look.
"He doesn't lie," Jinn replied with a gentle grin, "He just 'shades the truth' a lil…"
"Qui-Gon, shut up!" Serenn snapped, his eyes blazing at his apprentice.
Jinn looked momentarily startled and beheld his Master with an uncertain and browbeaten air, swallowing hard. Serenn sighed again, leaning his head forward onto the handlebars once more.
"You said he'd get me back…" Jinn murmured to Allyaah, his tone considerably hurt.
"I didn't mean like that," she quietly replied, giving the Padawan's cropped hair a ruffle in a gesture of friendly support.
"Don't worry," he told her confidently, keeping his voice low, "It just means that he's hurt and doesn't want to talk about it…I've known him long enough to be able to suss his behavioural patterns."
" 'He' can still hear you, Master Jinn," Serenn barked, raising his head again so that he could look upon his Padawan learner.
"For the Force's sake, will you calm down?" Allyaah shouted at him, gesticulating wildly with her hands, "You've got no right to treat your Padawan like that!"
Serenn shot to his feet, getting from off his swoop, and standing before his female ally with a dark, brooding look on his countenance, attempting to use his height as a dominant factor over her; "And you have no right to tell me how to speak to my Padawan!" he growled.
"I didn't have to come on this mission, Serenn, so don't go getting crotchety with me!" she rejoined, "If you just talked about what's hurting you once in a while, we'd all benefit!"
"We've had this argument already today!"
"I know – it's getting boring!"
"Shall we stop shouting at each other and get on with things, then?"
"Yes, sounds like a plan."
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Fine…?" Jinn piped at the end, completely thrown; he looked between the two with confusion, the firing round having stopped as quickly as it had started.
Dooku kicked his own speeder stand out, and set it firmly on its legs, before taking a deep breath and putting his hands to his hips; he looked out beyond the outcropping by which they stood, asking, "Which way now, then?" his calm disposition remarkably back in place.
Allyaah made a gesture for the Master and Padawan to follow, "This way," she said, beginning to walk over to the barely perceptible entrance to the city of Drykos.
Jinn shook his head in admiration at his tutor, finally slipping from off the swoop, the rift between them quickly sealed, "You sure have a way with women, Master," he smirked.
Serenn's eyebrows cocked gently, "Or women have a way with me," he retorted dryly, following Allyaah; she just ignored them both completely.
* * * *
The entrance to Drykos was a mere hold in the earth, apparently one of many access points into the subterranean city from the ground above. The trio of humans stepped down into the orifice warily, carefully climbing down into the winding, steep and most narrow tunnel that stretched out beneath them. The ground was dangerously smooth, and the tunnel dreadfully dark, so that the three Jedi could barely see their own hands in front of their faces. Each knew, though, that the slightest wrong footing could send them slipping over on the slippery surface, and sliding down into the unknown.
So, therefore, it was only natural that Jinn lost his balance…
"Whoah!" Jinn suddenly cried, losing his footing, and breaking both Dooku & Jiao's concentration in the process; his hands flailed against the slippery, cold tunnel walls to either side of him as he fell with a thump onto his rear, and immediately slid speedily into his Master infront of him on the frictionless floor; Serenn grunted, his lanky legs floundering futilely as Jinn knocked them from beneath him, before he too fell onto his back, his head falling onto Jinn's chest as his Padawan sat behind him; Jinn gave him a cheeky wave in the gloom. Dooku didn't have time to shake his head back as the two of them then hurtled into Jiao, who, with the weight of the two of them piling into her, didn't even bother to resist as she collapsed into Serenn's lap. All three then went skidding on down the precipitous, black, meandering slope that fell ahead of them, unknowing of what waited at its mysterious end.
It was a most amusing sight, looking like something from a family day out at a funfair, where everyone goes down the slide together – except that this was in a completely diverse context!
"Trust you, Master Jinn!" Serenn yelled back to his Padawan as they picked up speed and zoomed down the incline at a tremendous rate, dark rock faces flashing passed either side of them, a subterranean, stale-water smell hitting them in their faces as they descended into the planet's depths.
"It's not my fault I have big feet!" Jinn retorted, clutching hard about his Master's waist as if in hope that his mentor may provide him with some protection when they finally reached the end.
"You'll grow into them," Allyaah added, blessed with the severe misfortune of heading the train, "I hope Drykos isn't miles underground, or we'll be sliding for quite some time!"
"Well, we'll be there quicker than if we walked…" Serenn mused, his humour as deadpan as ever.
"My rear's on fire as it is, with all these rocks chafing against it…" Jinn griped, "I won't have a backside left if we go on much longer!"
Dooku rolled his eyes, "That's a pleasant conception, Qui-Gon!" he muttered, swiftly changing the subject to something more constructive, "Why on Coruscant have they got a giant slide into their city? I'm guessing it's not for personal amusement every time they go home!"
"DUCK!" Jinn suddenly yelled. All three Jedi obeyed without question, bending over forward to lower their heads from the ceiling as a low hanging mound of rock careered overhead, having come close to knocking them all out. Once the danger had passed, the trio cautiously all rose their heads again; Dooku looked back to his Padawan, "I commend you for your foresight, Master Jinn!" he said nonchalantly.
"I commend you for your blind obedience, Master Dooku," Jinn nodded in return.
Serenn turned back to Allyaah, who now answered his recent question, calling back to him as they continued to skid on, "The Colicoids are beetles. They travel by curling up, and rolling" – Allyaah demonstrated the 'curling' and 'rolling' of the Colicoids with her hands to Serenn, holding them close to his eyes so that he could see – "This would probably be the best way to allow them to enter their nests quickly!"
"Well how in the Force's name do they see where they're going?" he pondered aloud, squinting ahead and looking on into the ever-thickening gloom; he clutched Allyaah tightly about the waist, like Jinn was doing to him, keeping them together.
Allyaah shrugged, "They don't," she said understatedly, "They just trust that the tunnel's constructors did a good job and that they will end up in their city…"
Serenn shook his head, "Well, I guess that they didn't have humans in mind when they built it!"
Allyaah managed to laugh despite the situation, "Guess not!" she replied, placing her hands over Serenn's out of comfort, having no one infront of her to cling on to.
* * * *
["They've found their way here. Garrison 12 reports that they've entered the city by Port 132."]
["Excellent. Monitor them…they'll be here soon, and we want to give them a hearty welcome when they arrive, don't we?"]
* * * *
Half an hour had passed. Jinn looked up at the ceiling as it continued to rush by, and sighed, "Master, I don't want to tell you how boring this is getting." They were still sliding quickly down the twisting and turning slope of the narrow channel into Drykos.
Allyaah seemed to be half asleep, her head cushioned against Dooku's chest as their descent continued.
"Tell me about it," the Jedi Master grumbled, "I think they need stop-off points down here…I regret to say that I need to, for lack of a better phrase, relieve my bladder."
"Don't you dare," Allyaah groaned, proving that she was still awake and giving him a lethargic elbow in the process whilst she waited for their tedious 'fairground ride' to end.
"I happen to have a good constitution Allyaah, so be reassured," Serenn retorted.
"Drip, drip," Jinn wheedled into his Master's ear. Dooku elbowed him hard, causing Qui-Gon to wheeze deeply; "We do not take pride in the suffering of others, my young Padawan leaner!" he said in a serious yet facetious tone.
"And we do not in turn cause the suffering of others, Master!" Qui gasped, winded from Dooku's blow, "Besides, you should have gone before we left."
Serenn opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted before he could when Allyaah shot up off his chest and shouted, "I see the light!"
"I wish Qui would once in a while…" he dryly muttered; Jinn gave him another nudge.
"No, I mean it – the chute's coming to an end!" she went on.
"Joy!" Qui-Gon smiled.
"Brace yourselves!" Serenn ordered, clutching Allyaah hard whilst Jinn tightened his grip about his waist.
They whizzed out of the end of the tunnel, and, thanks to a kink in the ground, went flying chaotically all over the place. Allyaah spun into a stalagmite, Serenn rolled over several times before ending up with his legs up a wall, lying on his back at its foot, whilst Jinn went smack into a crater and splashed head first into a small pool within.
They sighed in tandem (Jinn's groan bubbling up through the water he was submerged beneath).
Qui-Gon pulled his head out of the pool and spat out a small stream of water, before clumsily stumbling out of the crater; the environment around him spun in a dizzying fashion, his mind seeming to think that he was still moving whilst his feet assured him that he wasn't, causing a stomach-churning confusion to erupt in his head. "Well, that was fun," he sighed sarcastically, "They'll enjoy hearing about that back at the Temple." He rubbed his backside, cringing at its soreness, before looking between his Master and Allyaah.
"Get back on your feet, Master," he chuckled, looking at his mentor's comical pose, "Or I'll be tempted to take a picture. You look like you've tried to do a handstand but failed miserably."
Jinn got a mere hand gesture from his teacher, which meant something akin to, but less offensive than, 'get lost'…or words to that similar effect.
Allyaah unfurled from about her stalagmite, throwing her disarrayed hair back over her head, before shakily returning to her unsteady feet. She leant onto this same rock form for balance, warbling, "Never again…" her vision also spinning nauseatingly before her.
"How are we going to get back out again?" Qui posed, "We can't 'slide' back up, exactly."
Allyaah paused for a moment, unable to answer, before saying, "We'll think about that when we come to it…" She turned to Dooku, "On your feet, resident acrobat."
Serenn heaved a sigh, "I can't tell whether I'm on my feet or not, the room's spinning so much!" He rolled over onto his side, bringing his legs down from up the wall, before slowly retrieving his bearings. Jinn noticed that Allyaah hadn't got the hand gesture from him, too.
Jiao looked about them – they were in some kind of natural antechamber that led from the end of the chute (and the end of several other chutes, by the looks of things) into what she presumed was the city. It was lighter in this cavernous cavity than it had been in the tunnel, the light of some kind of flame flickering in through a large opening over the room's far side, the supposed entrance to Drykos.
Jinn shook the water from his hair briefly, before saying, "I hope that there isn't another slide beyond that archway."
"I doubt that we can descend much further before we reach the city," Allyaah replied frankly, "That's got to be the way now."
Serenn finally made his way over to the two. He stood between them, looking down to them both and sighing profoundly, "Are we moving on, then?" he asked. Allyaah looked at him with a mischievous smile before raising a hand to his head and brushing some of his wildly disarrayed locks of hair back into place; "Yup," she replied, then stepping a few paces ahead toward the large, far aperture.
Dooku turned to Jinn. His Padawan mimicked Allyaah, but swept his Master's hair back the wrong way again, before smiling mockingly at him. Dooku gave him 'the look' before swiftly tugging his apprentice's ponytail in retaliation, and walking off before Jinn could get him back again, rearranging his hair along the way. Allyaah meanwhile took the lead of the party once more as their journey continued.
TBC…